13 die of COVID-19 at same New York City hospital in 24 hours
In the last 24 hours, 13 people have died of coronavirus at Elmhurst Hospital which now puts itself "at the center of this crisis," according to a statement provided to ABC News by the city's health department.
One doctor described the scene inside the emergency room as "apocalyptic" in an article posted by the New York Times.
"Right now, we're seeing double our average census New York City News every day," said Dr. Ben McVane. "We're filling up we're filling up our ICUs. We have several floors now that are devoted only to COVID positive patients. So we're finding ourselves getting close to being overwhelmed by patients. Some of these are very sick patients."
Elmhurst has a level one trauma center and is located in one of the most densely populated spots in the city's most populous borough.
It is also the hospital to which Rikers Island inmates are rushed in the event of an emergency at the city's jail complex.
Of the more than 20,000 coronavirus cases in NYC there are at least 6,000 cases in Queens, the most of any borough.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city has received enough supplies from the federal government to keep hospitals going over the last 24 hours, but they still need thousands more ventilators.
The health department's full statement is below:
"Elmhurst is at the center of this crisis, and it's the number one priority Press Release Distribution Services In New York City of our public hospital system right now. The frontline staff are going above and beyond in this crisis, and we continue surging supplies and personnel to this critical facility to keep pace with the crisis. We are literally increasing the effective capacity of the hospital on a daily basis by sending more doctors, nurses, ventilators and PPE to meet demand.
Over the last 24 hours, 13 people have passed away, but that is consistent with the number of ICU patients being treated there. Staff are doing everything in our power to save every person who contracts COVID-19, but unfortunately this virus continues to take an especially terrible toll on the elderly and people with preexisting conditions.
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